What happens when your book and web designer collaborate to create your website – Part 2

Do you write for children? Did you know your book and web designers can form the perfect team to create a distinct online experience for your readers.

In part 1 of this series, we looked at how children’s author Cath Mayo decided to bring her cover designer Nicole Onslow and her web designer together to create her author website. If you missed that post, it covers 5 design and technical tips, along with a few words of advice from both Cath and Nicole.

“I got in touch with Lucia to see whether she might permit me to use some of the illustrations from our picture book, ‘Together Always’, for my website. Lucia was happy to accept a commission to create some new artwork for the site and liaise with the web designer.”

From illustration to interface

Once a book designer has completed the visual design, it’s time for the web designer to ‘cut up’ the still graphics.

Then by writing code, each intricate part of the design is made editable by the author in the Content Management System being used.

Allowing authors to self-manage their website

Put simply, a Content Management System or CMS, is web based software, designed to make it easy for non-technical people, to add, edit and manage website pages. The most popular CMS around is Wordpress.

Using Wordpress reduces the need for authors to constantly contact their web designer for any minor changes. Giving authors creative control and reducing ongoing expenses.

When multiple designers from different studios collaborate on a project, it’s important to pay special attention to the management of the project.

5-Point Project Management Checklist

Plan the website backwards. Start with how the content functions, then work backward to plan the visual decoration.

Clearly identify who is responsible for completing each part of the project.

Get your web designer to break the project into small chunks of work, and set deadlines for each.

Have your book designer communicate and work directly with your web designer, not through you.

Ask for the copyright to all work produced upon project completion.

The result

So what does the author get when the creativity and skills of illustrators and web designers come together?

“Fortunately, Lucia and Jin held my ‘technologically stunted’ hands throughout the process and I was impressed by their intuitive and professional approach. It’s been fun - thanks team!”

About Jin & Co.

Why choose us? Because you need a partner that understands the specific needs of authors. Plus, we’re the only company that offers pre-designed, one-off author websites, all for and an upfront fixed price.